How Do You Respond to Negative Reviews?

The Impact of Negative Reviews on Businesses

Negative reviews can have a significant impact on a business’s reputation and success. According to a study by Harvard Business School, a one-star increase in a business’s Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue.

On the other hand, a one-star decrease can lead to a 5-9% decrease in revenue. Negative reviews can also affect a business’s search engine rankings and make it more difficult to attract new customers. It’s crucial for businesses to take negative reviews seriously and respond promptly and professionally.

Different Types of Negative Reviews

Negative reviews come in different forms, and each requires a different approach. Some negative reviews are straightforward complaints about a product or service that didn’t meet the customer’s expectations.

Other negative reviews may be more complex, such as those that criticize a business’s policies or practices.

Additionally, some negative reviews may be malicious or fake, posted by competitors or trolls with the intent to harm a business’s reputation. It’s essential to understand the different types of negative reviews and respond accordingly.

Stay Calm

It’s perfectly natural to feel an urge for a brash and forceful response to a bad review. However, it wouldn’t help if you acted on it because those kinds of replies rarely work. When you receive a terrible review notification, the best thing you can do is count to ten and take a couple of deep breaths. Don’t blow the gasket.

Read the contents of the review, study it, and try to find out as much about the cause of the bad review. You’ll want to know if the person was wronged. The other option is that you’re dealing with someone — possibly a competitor — who is trolling or merely trying to dent your reputation.

How to Handle a Negative Review

Depending on what you’ve found out, you’ll be able to address the reviewer in a couple of ways. If you find that they’ve made a valid claim, the best course of action would be to apologize and find a way to move the conversation offline.

If you’re not sure how to do all of it, there are the steps you should follow:

1. Address the review. That’s as simple as saying “dear customers” at the start of your reply.

2. Express gratitude. Tell the reviewer that you’re thankful for the time they took to leave the review.

3. Express remorse. You should always say that you’re sorry for the reviewer’s bad experience with your business.

4. Acknowledge the issue. If it’s your fault, why not admit it, albeit in a way that doesn’t leave you open for a lawsuit.

5. Offer rectification. Ask to work together on the way to make things right.

6. Take it offline. At this point, there’s no need for the two of you to continue chatting.

Following the last step, any issues you have with the disgruntled customer will be resolved between the two of you away from the prying eyes of the public.

79% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends or family. … Positive reviews also have a big impact on consumers, with 94% of consumers saying positive reviews make them more likely to use a business

Brightlocal.com

How to Manage Dishonest and Fraudulent Bad Reviews

If you were at fault, it’s only natural that you’ll do what you can to salvage the relationship with the customer. A part of it has to happen in public so that anyone looking up your business can see that you’re willing to go the extra mile to make things right. A part has to happen in private so that you’re not encouraging any fraudsters.

Speaking of fraudsters, it’s likely that you’ll have a fair share of fraudulent bad reviews, too. Some people do it for fun, some because they’re competitors, and there are always those who don’t like your business. You’ll recognize a fraudulent review by:

• A general lack of detail about what happened.
• A string of similar reviews left by the same reviewer to different businesses.
• A story that doesn’t match your records.
• Direct mention of a competitor.

Handling these types of reviews can be tricky. It’s easy to feel inclined to destroy the reviewer so that it will make the review and your answer a viral sensation. That’s a method that can easily backfire, however.

A better course of action would be to bring the review to the attention of the reviewing platform. Provide the platforms’ representative with any evidence you have regarding the fraudulent status of the report. That might be enough to have the review removed.

The Two Most Important Tips for Handling Bad Reviews

Handing bad reviews is more of an art than a science, but there are some things you should do with consistency. If you pull it off, even a couple of bad reviews will have no impact on your business.

The first thing you need to do is to reply to every bad review you get. That demonstrates that you’re not afraid of bad reviews and that your business is accountable for its mistakes. Of course, it would be great if you could be apologetic and helpful if the bad review is justified, or stern and direct if it’s a fraudulent one. Keep your tone in line with your assignment.

The second thing you need to do to avoid being drowned by bad reviews is always to have more good reviews than bad ones. No matter how obvious that sounds, you should know that getting a lot of good reviews can be tough work. It would be best if you incentivized people without paying for good reviews. Still, it’s the most effective way to manage bad reviews, and you should practice it diligently.

Preventing Negative Reviews in the Future

While responding to negative reviews is important, preventing them in the first place is even better.

Here are some tips for preventing negative reviews:

• Provide Excellent Customer Service
  Providing excellent customer service is the best way to prevent negative reviews. When customers have a positive experience, they’re more likely to leave positive reviews and recommend the business to others.
• Set Clear Expectations
  Setting clear expectations about products, services, and policies can help prevent misunderstandings and miscommunication. This can lead to fewer negative reviews and a better overall customer experience.
• Encourage Positive Reviews
  Encouraging customers to leave positive reviews can help offset the impact of negative reviews. This can be done by asking customers to leave a review after a purchase or by offering incentives for leaving a review.

Examples of Successfully Turned Negative Reviews into Positive One

There are numerous examples of businesses that have successfully turned negative reviews into positive outcomes.

Uber surge pricing has caused an uproar as customers are used to set pricing.  Not only the users hated it, but many media outlets criticised it.

How did Uber turn this around?  By providing transparent information on the website, social media, emails and sending in app notifications about period of high demand.  An article by Vox even listed the benefits of surge pricing.

By providing clear and transparent information, it helps clear any miscommunication or misunderstanding thus turning around negative reviews into a positive one.

Key Takeaways

Online reviews are an inseparable part of the digital landscape. You have to count that they’ll be there, whether you like them or not. The good ones will do you good, and they’ll help you send a positive image about your business to the world.

The bad ones might try to do the opposite. But if you handle them well, there’s no way a couple of bad reviews will throw significant shade on an otherwise upstanding business. If, on the other hand, you don’t get anything except bad reviews, then it might be time for a long, hard look into the way you conduct business.